I’ve really wanted to comment more on the ongoing healthcare debate, but I’ve managed to hold back ever time I attempt to post. Some great commentary can be found with Bob Cesca and Matt Taibbi, so I often feel like I’m just doing a “Yeah, what they said!” post. But what I really think is making me hesitant is that I am starting to feel like the craziness is contagious.

I work for a large corporation, so my health care seems decent, although it’s tough to know for sure because I’ve stayed largely healthy (I can vouch for my vision plan, which has been great to someone with bad eyes). My self-employed friends, by contrast, have been wringing their hands and praying that they can get through the year. The healthcare issue is volatile because a lot of people, on both sides of the political aisle, feel unsafe. There is a lot of fear going around and most of the news is simply throwing more gasoline on the fire.

With fully armed protesters showing up to town hall meetings, something is bound to explode.

Perhaps that is why Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress are pulling the teeth out of reform before something tragic happens. The problem is, the tragedy has already struck, with millions lacking any sort of health coverage at all and many others having private coverage that is completely inadequate. People are dying, just not in bloody revolution on the streets.

From The Atlantic’s web site (with a tip of the hat to Metafilter); a lengthy essay by David Goldhill that is measured and personal called How American Health Care Killed My Father.